[dns-operations] check if a domain has been registered via DNS

[Mark Jeftovic]

Andrew Sullivan wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 11:58:12AM -0400, Mark Jeftovic wrote:
>> Not unless the registries decide to start pushing some meta-data into
>> their zones, (via TXT records?) which I think would be a fine idea, like
> 
> Why, pray tell, would this be a "fine idea"?
> 
> What I really don't understand is what problem any of this is solving,
> since in virtually every registry there is a command to check whether
> a domain name is available for registration, and it returns plenty
> fast.
> 

But you cannot machine it or automate it (at least you're not supposed
to and if you game a way to do it, it can't be counted as reliable).

And there are reasons why you might want to (mail servers may want to
soft bounce emails from domains in an expired state, I personally want
to never see an email again from a domain cloaked with whois privacy.)

Or as Paul Vixie said, to be able to blackhole entire Registrars. I
would love that.

> But adding a third way to find this out, kind of, sometimes, strikes
> me as a good way to add to the errors about domain names that people
> think are out there, but not really a good way to make anything work
> better.
> 

This is information the registry maintains anyway, the idea is that they
publish it in another band, that being the DNS.

> If someone really wants to improve the state of the art with RDS (the
> latter-day name for "whois"), there's a whole PDP going on at ICANN
> right now about this topic.  It could do with the injection of a
> little more technical clue, actually, so I would encourage
> participation.

RDS will likely be gated. Not everybody will have access to it the way
everybody can do DNS queries.

- mark

> 
> Best regards,
> 
> A
> 

-- 
Mark Jeftovic <markjr at easydns.com>
Founder & CEO, easyDNS Technologies Inc.
http://www.easyDNS.com